Florida in unfamiliar spot -- unranked

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- The Florida Gators are in an unfamiliar position in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll: They're out of it.
For the first time in 95 weeks, the Gators were unranked when the poll was released Monday. Only Duke, which extended its string to 143 consecutive weeks, had been in the rankings longer.
The Gators (14-7, 5-5 Southeastern Conference) were ranked No. 1 earlier in the season, but their fall has been hard and fast. They received 57 votes in the latest poll, and were listed among others receiving votes.
Since starting the season 5-0, including a 78-77 win over Arizona, the Gators are 9-7. They have lost four home games after dropping just seven in the past five seasons combined. They've won just three of their last eight SEC games, blowing late leads at home against Kentucky and LSU.
"When we moved to No. 1, it wasn't by anything we did," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "Teams ahead of us lost. If we would have played Arizona and come back and played Louisville on the road and lost that game, we never would have been No. 1. A lot of it has to do with the way your schedule is set up."
After getting to No. 1 on Dec. 8 for the second time in school history, Florida lost at home to then-unranked Maryland and at Louisville, plummeting to No. 15 -- the largest one-week drop from the top in AP poll history.
Still, the Gators remained ranked until their latest skid, ending a Top 25 streak that began on Feb. 8, 1999.
"It's been a great run," Donovan said. "All good things come to an end, and maybe we can start a new one here. We've been ranked for four-and-a-half to five years, and a good portion of it was spent in the top 10."
At this point, Florida appears in no real danger of missing the NCAA tournament, thanks to their schedule which is ranked the second-toughest in the nation. A win tonight at Georgia would help, though.